1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a locker type merchandise delivering system for reliably delivering merchandise ordered by a customer to the customer by utilizing a non-store retailing site such as electronic shopping.
As personal computers and hand-held terminals have become wide spread, demands have been increasing drastically for non-store retailing services by directly exchanging information between customers and sellers through the Internet, or the like.
The non-store retailing services require a delivering method that replaces a method that directly hands the merchandise to the customer in the shop in addition to a settling method that replaces a conventional settling method by which the seller receives the charge from the customer in the shop.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional non-store retailing service, the customer connects a personal computer to the Internet, gains access to the home page of a seller, exchanges necessary information and orders merchandise.
Receiving the order of the merchandise, the seller requests a delivering company to package and to deliver the merchandise to the customer""s house. Also, the delivering company can deliver the merchandise to a convenience store designated by the customer, and the customer can come to the convenience store and pick up the merchandise. Convenience of the customer is thus insured as the merchandise is delivered to the customer""s house or to the convenience store nearby.
To settle the charge of the merchandise delivered to the customer, the delivering company or the convenience store collects the charge on the cash-on-delivery basis, by making a withdrawal through a credit card, transferring to postal or bank account.
For example, when the merchandise is delivered to the customer""s house, the customer needs to be at home in order to have the merchandise delivered. And when postal transfer is used to settle the charge, the customer has to go to the post office or to the bank to transfer the money. Great limitation of time is imposed on the customer by using conventional ways. Also, in order to deliver the merchandise to the customer""s house, the delivering company has to know personal information of the customer such as the address and the telephone number. Since such personal information is handed over from the seller to the delivering company, personal information cannot always be protected sufficiently.
When delivery of the merchandise and settlement of the charge are made in the convenience store, the limitation of the time can be eliminated on the contrary to the case described above. However, there is the possibility that privacy of the customer cannot be protected sufficiently.
On the other hand, when the settling method utilizing the credit card is employed, the limitation of time imposed on the customer becomes small because the customer need not go to the bank. However, since the credit card number is transmitted through the network, a great problem exists in the aspect of security. In addition, the problem of delivery of the merchandise yet remains unsolved in the same way as in the two methods described above.
A service that uses a door-to-door delivery box comprising a plurality of home delivery lockers and installed as receive-only boxes in an apartment house has been materialized as a technology for solving a part of the problem of delivery of the merchandise (Japanese Patent Publication No. 2,834,754 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 64-49505 and 9-282531).
This technology gives importance to reliable stipulation of the person who receives the merchandise. The party to which the merchandise is delivered is limited to only the person who is in advance registered to a sales management center, such as a resident in an apartment house having the home delivery lockers.
Similarly, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-11806 discloses a technology for delivering the merchandise by utilizing delivery lockers. According to this technology, when a proper customer utilizing the non-store retailing service through the network conducts a suitable operation for an article delivering equipment installed in a place where people gather and verifies his identification for receiving the merchandise, the customer can receive the merchandise.
This technology can mitigate much more greatly the limitation imposed on the customer than the home delivery lockers installed in the apartment houses because the article delivering equipment is installed at the place where the customers gather. However, verification of identification for receiving the merchandise is based on the premise that the customer can clearly verify identity of himself. Therefore, to receive the non-store retailing service applying this technology, the customer must register in advance the personal identification number, etc, in the same way as in the above service using the home delivery lockers.
It is an object of the invention to provide a locker type merchandise delivering system capable of safely settling the charge of merchandise and delivering merchandise for indefinite customers while protecting privacy of the customers.
It is another object of the invention to make it possible to receive orders of merchandise to meet with demands from indefinite customers and set a delivery site, and to settle the charge and deliver the merchandise, without relying at all on manual work, to improve convenience of the customers and to firmly protect privacy of the customers.
It is a further object of the invention to accomplish a service that relieves customers from limitation of time and place imposed on the customer to deliver the merchandise and to settle the charge of the merchandise.
The objects described above can be accomplished by a locker type merchandise delivering system including a plurality of merchandise delivering equipment each being constituted by integrating together a plurality of lockers capable of being locked, a settling unit for settling charge of a merchandise, and a door controlling unit for controlling opening and closing of a door provided to each of the lockers, and said plurality of merchandise delivery equipment installed at public sites such as a train station where unspecified persons can freely enter and leave, the system comprising: an order receiving unit for receiving designation of a place and time at an which a customer desires to receive the merchandise, when ordering the merchandise; an order entry controlling unit for generating an ordering code for specifying the order of the merchandise, and for managing the ordering information relating to the designated place and time on the basis of the ordering code; an sending unit for sending the ordering code to the customer, wherein the settling unit includes: an ordering code inputting unit for accepting the entry of the ordering code; an ordering information inputting unit for receiving, from the order entry controlling unit, ordering information corresponding to the ordering code inputted; an accepting unit for accepting the charge of the merchandise on the basis of the ordering information; and a code notifying unit for notifying to the door controlling unit a release code for unlocking the door of an appropriate locker in response to the acceptance of the charge, and wherein the door controlling unit includes: a code receiving unit for generating a release instruction in response to the reception of the release code, by designating a corresponding locker; and a release unit for releasing the lock built into the door of the corresponding locker in accordance with the release instruction.
Such a locker type merchandise delivering system can accept the order of merchandise in accordance with the request from an unspecified customer, can set the delivery place, and can settle the charge of the merchandise and deliver the merchandise without relying at all on the manual work.
The objects described above can be accomplished also by a locker type merchandise delivering system including a plurality of merchandise delivering equipment each being constituted by integrating together and arranging adjacent to one another a plurality of lockers capable of being locked, a settling unit for settling charge of a merchandise, and a door controlling unit for controlling opening and closing of a door provided to each of the lockers, and installed at public sites such as a train station where unspecified persons can freely enter and leave, the system comprising order receiving unit for receiving designation of a place and time at which a customer desires to receive the merchandise, when ordering the merchandise; an order entry controlling unit for managing ordering information relating to the merchandise and its delivering place on the basis of an ordering code generated in accordance with ordering of the merchandise, and a sending unit for sending the ordering code to the customer; wherein the settling unit includes the ordering code inputting unit for accepting the entry of the ordering code; an ordering information inputting unit for receiving ordering information corresponding to the inputted ordering code from the order entry controlling unit; an accepting unit for accepting the charge of the merchandise on the basis of the ordering information; a code outputting unit for outputting a predetermined recording medium recording settling information inclusive of the combination of a release code for unlocking the door of an appropriate locker with the ordering code in response to the acceptance of the charge; and a code notifying unit for notifying the release code corresponding to the ordering code to the door controlling unit; and wherein the door controlling unit includes a reading unit for reading the settling information recorded to the recording medium; a code receiving unit for receiving the release code corresponding to the ordering code; a comparing unit for comparing the release code received by the code receiving unit with the release code contained in the settling information, and generating a release instruction when they coincide with each other, by designating a corresponding locker; and a release unit for releasing the lock built in to the door of the corresponding locker in accordance with the release instruction.
Such a locker type merchandise delivering system can accept the order of the merchandise in accordance with the request from an unspecified customer, and can settle the charge of the merchandise and deliver the merchandise without relying at all on one""s hand. Furthermore, this locker type merchandise delivering system can reliably deliver the merchandise accommodated in the locker to the customer who appropriately settles the charge irrespective of the distance between the settling unit and the locker. It is therefore possible, for example, to space apart the settling unit and the lockers or to manage a large number of lockers by one settling unit.
The objects described above can be accomplished also by the locker type merchandise delivering system described above wherein the sending unit includes an uplinking unit for notifying the ordering code to the destination represented by identification information for specifying a customer ordering the merchandise, and an acquiring unit for acquiring a response to the notification and notifying the response to an order entry controlling unit.
This locker type merchandise delivering system confirms the identification information the customer inputs at the time of ordering, and can use this information when the order entry controlling unit controls the ordering information. Therefore, this system can suppress the loss resulting from an invalid order not supported by the identification information.
The objects described above can be further accomplished by the locker type merchandise delivering system described above wherein the door controlling unit includes a merchandise information storing unit for storing merchandise information for specifying a merchandise to be accommodated in the locker and the ordering code so that they correspond to each locker; a merchandise information inputting unit for receiving the ordering code and the merchandise information prior to the accommodation of the merchandise into the locker; and a retrieving unit for retrieving ordering code and merchandise information coincident with the inputted ordering code and with the merchandise information, from the merchandise information storing unit, and for inputting a release instruction instructing the release unit to release the lock, by designating the corresponding locker.
The locker type merchandise delivering system described above can accommodate merchandise that is coincident with the merchandise information designated by the ordering code when the distributing party accommodates the merchandise into the locker, and can therefore prevent delivery mistakes.
The objects described above can be further accomplished by the locker type merchandise delivering system described above wherein the door controlling unit comprises: a code acquiring unit for acquiring the ordering code corresponding to the merchandise when the merchandise is accommodated in the locker; a distribution detecting unit for detecting completion of distribution of the merchandise into the locker; and a distribution notifying unit for notifying a message representing completion of distribution of the merchandise corresponding to the ordering code to the order entry controlling unit when the distribution detecting unit detects completion of distribution of the merchandise.
Since the locker type merchandise delivering system can notify the distribution completion message for the corresponding ordering code to the order entry controlling unit, this system can accomplish services utilizing the information on the distribution of merchandise, such as a service that notifies completion of the distribution of the merchandise to the customer.
The objects described above can be further accomplished by the locker type merchandise delivering system described above wherein the door controlling unit 120 comprises: a delivery detecting unit for detecting completion of delivery of the merchandise; and a delivery notifying unit for sending a message representing completion of delivery of the merchandise corresponding to the ordering code to the order entry controlling unit when the delivery detecting unit detects completion of delivery of the merchandise.
The locker type merchandise delivering system described above detects completion of the delivery of the merchandise and notifies completion to the order entry controlling unit. Therefore, this system can accomplish services utilizing the information relating to the delivery of the merchandise.
The objects described above can be accomplished by the locker type merchandise delivering system described above wherein the code outputting unit comprises: a code generating unit for generating a release code in response to completion of acceptance of the charge by the accepting unit and putting the release code under a notifying process by the code notifying unit; and a recording unit for recording the release code on a predetermined recording medium.
The locker type merchandise delivering system can greatly lower the danger of the leakage of the release code before the customer picks up the merchandise, and can therefore improve reliability of the system.
The objects described above can be further accomplished by the locker type merchandise delivering system described above wherein the ordering code inputting unit comprises: a data inputting unit provided to automatic ticket-vending machine, for inputting a predetermined instruction code and the ordering code together with data necessary for purchasing a ticket; and a data entering unit for receiving the predetermined instruction code and the ordering code inputted by the data inputting unit; wherein the accepting unit includes a money accepting unit provided to automatic ticket-vending machine, for accepting and recovering the money put in by the customer; and a money receiving unit for receiving the money received by the money accepting unit as the charge of the merchandise corresponding to the ordering code, in response to acceptance of the ordering code by the data entering unit, and wherein the code outputting unit includes a ticket-issuing unit provided to automatic ticket-vending machine, for recording the inputted information to a recording medium as a material of a ticket and then discharging the recording medium; and a record controlling unit for inputting settling information inclusive of a release code as information to be recorded to the recording medium to the ticket-issuing unit in response to receipt of the charge by the money receiving unit.
The locker type merchandise delivering system described above can accomplish several functions of the settling unit by utilizing the corresponding functions of the automatic ticket-vending machine. Therefore, this locker type merchandise delivering system can suppress the increase of the cost due to expansion of services by the system, and can promote the wide-spreading of the locker type merchandise delivering system.